Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-01-20

| pillaging, massacreing, starving out the
| people-invisible and omnipotent enc
mics. And sort of superstitious terror
blended itself with their hatred eff those
unknown and victorious people.
Morissot stammered: Say! suppose,
suppose we'd meet some of them?"
| NJ. Savage replied, with that peculiar
| Partisan gouaillerie, that spirit of jest
which will crop out under any circum-
stances;
"Why. we'd jusl offer them some nice
| broiled fish,"
Nevertheless they hesitated to go fur
Their on, feeling intimidated by the 81
lence of the whole horizon.
At last M. Savage decided:
"Come let US go, but prudently."
And they descended a vineyard slope,
bending down, crouching on all tours,
taking advantage of every bush to screen
themselves as they advanced, straining
their ears, and looking anxiously around.
A narrow strip of bare land remained
to cross in order to reach the river bank.
They started at a run, and as soon as they
got to the shore they crouched down
among the weeds.
Morissoi put his ear to the ground in
order to fine out if somebody was not
walking about in the neighborhood. He
could not hear anything. They were all
alone-quite by themselves.
They took courage and began to fish.
In front of them File Marante, VINO
deserted, concealed them from observa-
ton from the further bank. The little
restaurant was closed-and it looked
as if it had been closed for years and
years
M. Savage caught his first gudgeon,
III. Morissot the second, and then mo-
ment by moment, they kept on lifting
| their lines, each time with some little sit
yer creature quivering on the end-a re-
ally marvellous catch.
Thes carefully dropped the fl sh into a
fishing basket made of strong, close net
work, which lay in in the shallow water at
their feet.
And delicious JOY penetrated them
such Joy as you feel on once more OBJ
tanning some loved pleasure of which you
have been long deprived.
The kind sun poured down his warmth
between their shoulders; they ceased to
hear anything; they thought of nothing
more; they ingnored the rest of the world
they simply gshed.
| But suddenly deep sound that seemed
to rise out of The ground made every
thing shake. The cannons were at work
again,
Morissot turned his head and above
the slope he saw, high on the right, the
great silhouet of Mont Valorien, bearing
on its brow a white plume-a puff of
! powder smoke.
And Immediately a second jet of
smoke pulled out from the summit of the
Co. e. L. Id Al
| ton came to their ears.
| Then other reports followed: and from
time to time the mountain exhaled its
breath of destruction, blew forth milky
vapors, which rose in the clear sky to
| hang as cloud above it.
M. Savage shrugged his shoulders.
"There they go!' he said.
Morissot, who was watching the feather
on his float dipping again and again, was
suddenly seized with wrath that a peace
ful man feels against the people who
were fighting thus, and he muttered be-
| tween his teeth:
"'Vhat idiots!-to be killing one anoth-
er like that!"
M. Savage answered:
| 'WOrse than bTutes."
| And Morrissot, who had just hooked a
white-bait, exclaimed:
"Just to think it will always be like
that as long as there are governments"
M. Savage interrupted him:
''The republic would not have declared
war"
M. Morissot interrupted him in his
! turn:
"With kings there is foreign war; with
a republic, civil war;"
And very calmly they proceeded to dis
cus5 politics-unravelipg great problems
with the healthy reasoning of gentle and
plainly educated men-both agreeing on
one point that humanity would never be
| free.
| And Mont Valerin Numbered on with
out pause-demOlished French houses
with solid shot, bray;ng out lives, crush
ing beings-putting an end to many
dreams, many anticipated joys, many
hope of bliss-Opening in the hearts of
wives, and in the hearts of daughters,
and in the hearts of mothers, dwelling
far away in other lands, wounds that
would never heal.
"Such is lifei" declared M Savage.
"Better say such is DEATH" responded
| lIOrissot with a laugh.
| But they suddenly started in terror,
feeling that somebody was walking be-
| u1uu GuGu1s buEuluS 1OOhs
they saw, right at their backs, four men
| four TALL bearded men-armed, dressed
like livery servants, and wearing fiat
caps-who were covering them with their
rifles.
The two fishing lines slipped from
| their hands and went floating down the
river.
In an Instant the two Parisians were
seized, tied, dragged away, pitched into a
boat and taken to the island beyond.
| And behind the house which they had
imagined deserted, thee saw company
of German soldiers.
A sort of hairy giant, who, seated a
straddle of a chair, was smoking a big
porcelain pipe, asked them in excellent
| French:
"Wen gentlemen, was fishing goods"
| Then soldier threw down at the Off
GERS feet netful of fish, which he had
taken good care to bring along. The
Prussian smiled: swell, well! I see you
1 houa boJ yrattu ypo1 l,oE Put ra bouo